Akg 414 Review

I want to be clear, I am recording acoustic guitar playing and most of this guitar playing is on nylon string instruments. I have tried a number of recording methods; usually on the cheap for many a year - recording onto 4 tracks with Sure SM57s etc that were kicking around. I recently got into using my computer and recording digitally through a high quality, although fussy, Focusrite audio/digital converter. I used my C1000 microphones, at first, and was getting a pretty good recording compared to my earlier on a strict budget analogue recordings. I had always heard that every studio has to have a AKG 414 mic and made the purchase figuring it was so versatile that in the long run things would pay off. However, the leap in sound quality was far greater than I had anticipated and have not touched my C1000 mics since and probably won't use them for classical guitar recordings anymore. The amount of improved headroom availed by the AKG 414 is what I noticed first. The top end is very clean and bright and 'musical' for lack of a better word. I had to do some different placements as the bass was booming and I have the bass cut going now. I can see that for voice and other instruments, that the AKG 414 is a must to have. However, I went and purchased a Neumann k184...but that is another review....

btw, being able to switch from directional, hyper cardroid etc by the push of a button is really good feature that this mic has.